Efficiency improved voltage converter

[0001] The present invention relates generally to a voltage converter and more particularly, to the efficiency improvement of a voltage converter.

[0002] Battery is widely used for the power source in portable electronic products. However, the battery voltage will be gradually decayed with its operational time or suddenly dropped down resulted from instant increasing of load current flowing through the internal resistor of the battery. For a battery voltage will be out of a desired range, it is generally employed buck-boost converter or two-stage, i.e., boost-then-buck, voltage converter in order to maintain a stable output voltage for power supply to a load.

[0003] FIG. 1 shows a conventional two-stage voltage converter 10 that includes a boost converter 12 connected in series with a buck converter 14. The boost converter 12 is connected between a supply voltage V_S provided by one or more batteries and an output 1202 to boost up the supply voltage V_S to generate an output voltage V_OUT1 to supply for a load 162 connected to the output 1202, and the buck converter 14 is connected between the output 1202 and 1402 to convert the boosted voltage V_OUT1 to another output voltage V_OUT2 to supply for another load 164 connected to the output 1402. For typical applications, the supply voltage V_S is in the range of from 1.8V to 3.3V, the boosted voltage V_OUT1 is about 3.3V, and the bucked voltage V_OUT2 is about 1.8V. The boost converter 12 comprises an inductor L₁ connected between the supply voltage V_S and a node 1204, a diode D₁ connected between the node 1204 and the output 1202, a transistor Q₁ connected between the node 1204 and ground, a capacitor C₁ connected between the output 1202 and ground, and a boost controller 122 to switch the transistor Q₁ for regulating the output voltage V_OUT1. On the other hand, the buck converter 14 comprises an inductor L₂ connected between the output 1402 and a node 1404, a diode D₂ connected between the node 1404 and ground, a capacitor C₂ connected between the output 1402 and ground, a transistor Q₂ connected between the output 1202 and the node 1404, and a buck controller 142 to switch the transistor Q₂ for regulating the output voltage V_OUT2. However, for the two-stage voltage converter 10 boosting up the supply voltage V_S first and then bucking down the boosted voltage V_OUT1, the total efficiency to convert the supply voltage V_s to the output voltage V_OUT2 will be the efficiency product of the boost converter 12 and the buck converter 14, i.e., η_Boost×η_Buck, and therefore, the total efficiency of the two-stage voltage converter 10 is decreased by such two-stage conversion.

[0004] FIG. 2 shows a conventional SEPIC converter 20 that comprises a boost converter 22 and a buck-boost converter 24 both connected to a supply voltage V_S. As usual, the boost converter 22 is connected between the supply voltage V_S and a load 262 connected to its output 2204, to boost up the supply voltage V_S to generate an output voltage V_OUT1, at the output 2204. The buck-boost converter 24 is connected between the supply voltage V_S and another load 264 connected to its output 2406, to convert the supply voltage V_S to another output voltage V_OUT2 at the output 2406. The boost converter 22 comprises an inductor L₁ connected between the supply voltage V_S and a node 2202, a diode D₁ connected between the node 2202 and the output 2204, a capacitor C₁ connected between the output 2204 and ground, a transistor Q₁ connected between the node 2202 and ground, and a boost controller 222 to switch the transistor Q₁ for regulating the output voltage V_OUT1. On the other hand, the buck-boost converter 24 comprises an inductor L₂ connected between the supply voltage V_S and a node 2402, another inductor L₃ connected between a node 2404 and ground, a diode D₂ connected between the node 2404 and the output 2406, a capacitor C₂ connected between the output 2406 and ground, another capacitor C₃ connected between the nodes 2402 and 2404, a transistor Q₂ connected between the node 2402 and ground, and a buck controller 242 to switch the transistor Q₂ for regulating the output voltage V_OUT2. However, a buck-boost converter does not have high conversion efficiency, and the two energy-storing elements, inductors L₂ and L₃, bring the buck-boost converter 24 to high cost and large size.

[0005] Moreover, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, other transient loadings 160 and 260, such as photoflash and motor, also connected to the supply voltage V_S would generate surge current It that causes the supply voltage V_S suddenly dropped down because of the surge current It flowing through the internal resistor of the battery, and thereby the supply voltage V_S may be lower than the output voltage V_OUT2, as shown by curve 406 in FIG. 4, to further degrade the efficiency thereof.

[0006] Although both the voltage converters 10 and 20 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 may maintain the output voltage V_OUT2 stably at desired level, their conversion efficiencies are only around 80%, as shown in FIG. 5 by curve 52 for the two-stage voltage converter 10 and by curve 54 for the SEPIC converter 20.

[0007] Therefore, it is desired an efficiency improved voltage converter.

[0008] One object of the present invention is to provide a voltage converter in which the efficiency is improved by a combination of linear mode and switch mode converters. In a voltage converter, according to the present invention, a boost converter is connected between a supply voltage provided by one or more batteries and a first output, a buck converter is connected between the supply voltage and a second output, and a low dropout (LDO) regulator is connected between the first output and the second output. The boost converter boosts up the supply voltage to generate a first output voltage at the first output, and the buck converter bucks down the supply voltage to generate a second output voltage at the second output. When the supply voltage is lower than a threshold, the LDO regulator converts the first output voltage to a third voltage at the second output. A shutdown circuit is further included in the buck converter to turn off the buck converter to prevent reverse current to flow toward to the battery.

[0016] FIG. 3 shows an embodiment according to the present invention, in which linear mode and switch mode converters are combined together to improve the efficiency thereof. A voltage converter 30 comprises a boost converter 32 connected with a supply voltage V_S to boost up the supply voltage V_S to generate an output voltage V_OUT1, at its output 3202 to supply for a load 382 connected to the output 3202, a buck converter 34 connected with the supply voltage V_S to buck down the supply voltage V_S to generate another output voltage V_OUT2 at its output 3402 to supply for another load 384 connected to the output 3402, and an LDO regulator 36 connected between the outputs 3202 and 3402 to convert the output voltage V_OUT1 to yet another output voltage V_OUT3 at the output 3402 connected with the load 384 when the output voltage V_OUT2 is lower than a threshold. The boost converter 32 comprises an inductor L₁ connected between the supply voltage V_S and a node 3204, a diode D₁ connected between the node 3204 and the output 3202, a capacitor C₁, connected between the output 3202 and ground, a transistor Q₁ connected between the node 3204 and ground, and a boost controller 322 to switch the transistor Q₁ for regulating the output voltage V_OUT1. On the other hand, the buck converter 34 comprises an inductor L₂ connected between the output 3402 and a node 3404, a diode D₂ connected between the node 3404 and ground, a capacitor C₂ connected between the output 3402 and ground, a transistor Q₂ connected between the supply voltage V_S and the node 3404, and a buck controller 342 to switch the transistor Q₂ for regulating the output voltage V_OUT2.

[0017] In normal operation, the LDO regulator 36 does not work, and the voltage supplied to the load 384 is V_OUT2 provided by the buck converter 34. However, when the output voltage V_OUT2 is lower than the threshold because of power consumption of the battery or transient loading such as photoflash and motor, the LDO regulator 36 operates and provides the output voltage V_OUT3 supplied to the load 384. For typical applications, the supply voltage V_S is in a range of from 1.8V to 3.3V, the output voltage V_OUT1 is about 3.3V, the output voltage V_OUT2 is about 1.8V, the output voltage V_OUT3 is about 1.75V, and the threshold is substantially equal to the output voltage V_OUT3, about 1.75V.

[0018] FIG. 4 shows the variation of the output voltage V_OUT2 of the voltage converter 30 upon a transient loading such as photoflash and motor. In this diagram, the voltage level of 1.8V designated by curve 402 is the buck setting, and another voltage level of 1.75V designated by curve 404 is the LDO setting. Under steady state, the output voltage V_OUT2 of the buck converter 34 is maintained at 1.8V, which is larger than 1.75V of the LDO setting and thus, the LDO regulator 36 does not work. Upon a transient loading to induce a surge current I_t flowing through the internal resistor of the battery, as shown by curve 406, the supply voltage V_S drops down violently, resulting in 100% of buck converter duty and falling down of the output voltage V_OUT2 eventually, as shown by curve 408. Once the output voltage V_OUT2 under 1.75V of the LDO setting, the LDO regulator 36 is triggered to convert the output voltage V_OUT1 to the output voltage V_OUT3 at the output 3402 of the buck converter 34 and eventually, the LDO regulator 36 substitutes for the buck converter 34 to supply power for the load 384 to maintain the normal operation of the load 384. When the supply voltage V_S is recovering such that the output voltage V_OUT2 of the buck converter 34 reaches 1.75V of the LDO setting, the LDO regulator 36 stops working, and the buck converter 34 takes the role back to supply power for the load 384. After the transient event, the battery voltage V_S is recovered to its original level, and the output voltage V_OUT2 of the buck converter 34 is maintained at 1.8V again. Most of operational time the battery voltage V_S is above 1.8V, and the power conversion is performed by the buck converter 34, instead of the LDO regulator 36. As a result, the average efficiency of the voltage converter 30 is improved because of the efficient buck converter 34, even though the LDO regulator 36 has poor efficiency.

[0019] Another situation the battery voltage V_S under desired range is occurred when the battery power is almost exhausted out. For comparison and more detailed illustration, FIG. 5 shows the relations between conversion efficiency and supply voltage for the voltage converter 30 according to the present invention and the conventional voltage converters 10 and 20. Curve 50 represents the efficiency to convert the supply voltage V_S to the output voltage V_OUT2 by the voltage converter 30 according to the present invention, curves 52 and 54 represent for those by the conventional two-stage voltage converter 10 and SEPIC converter 20, respectively. When the supply voltage V_S is within the range of from 1.8V to 3.0V, the conversion efficiency for the output voltage V_OUT2 according to the present invention is about within the range of from 90% to 97%, which is much larger than the range around 80% for the conventional two-stage voltage converter 10 and SEPIC converter 20. Due to the low efficient LDO regulator 36, the efficiency to generate the output voltage V_OUT3 according to the present invention drops rapidly to about 50% when the supply voltage V_S is lower than 1.8V. However, the battery voltage V_S under 1.8V is occurred when the battery power is almost exhausted out. Therefore, the total efficiency of the voltage converter 30 according to the present invention is still higher than the conventional voltage converters 10 and 20 about 5% to 10%.

[0020] Referring to FIG. 3, when the voltage on the node 3404 is higher than the supply voltage V_s, there will be a reverse current to flow toward to the battery. To prevent this reverse current I_b, FIG. 6 provides an embodiment for the buck converter 34 that further includes a shutdown circuit 344 to monitor the voltage drop across the transistor Q₂. For example, the shutdown circuit 344 includes a comparator 3442 that has a non-inverting input connected to the node 3404, and an inverting input coupled to the supply voltage V_S with an offset V_D of about 50mV inserted therebetween to compensate the cutoff voltage of the transistor Q₂. When the voltage on the node 3404 is higher than the supply voltage V_S with a difference V_D, the shutdown circuit 344 generates a shutdown signal SD to turn off the transistor Q₂ by the buck controller 342, by which reverse current I_b from the node 3404 through the transistor Q₂ to the battery is prevented.

[0021] While the present invention has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope thereof as set forth in the appended claims.